KUALA LUMPUR – AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes is probably a very good poker player.
He appears to have bluffed the Malaysian government into scrapping its earlier decision to allow AirAsia to build its own exclusive airport outside Kuala Lumpur.
The government has instead directed the budget airline operator to expand its operations at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), the country’s main international gateway.
AirAsia and its founding shareholder Tony Fernandes will not be at all unhappy with that decision.
Under a compromise with the government, state-controlled Malaysia Airports Bhd (MAB), the operator of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, will build a new terminal according to specifications set by AirAsia under a strict budget.
Which is probably what Fernandes wanted all along.
Both parties will also determine landing and passenger charges before construction begins.
Again, that’s a win for Air Asia.
Early this month, the Malaysian government had approved AirAsia’s plan to build its own airport some 22km away from KLIA in a joint venture with conglomerate Sime Darby.
But the plan to build the airport angered pressure groups and government agencies who argued that there was ample scope for expansion at KLIA.
Fernandes probably thought so too – just as long as he got the KLIA expansion on his terms.
-by Ian Jarrett
